Moshi (Tanzania) – On 3 December 2025, Child-Help will open the new SHARE Global Knowledge Centre for Accessible Care in Moshi – an event of great significance for families, professionals and people affected by spina bifida and hydrocephalus worldwide. The opening will create an international hub of hope, knowledge exchange, networking and practical support in Moshi. The central importance of this opening lies in the fact that it brings together medical care, family support, international cooperation and local responsibility in the long term – a decisive step towards accessible and affordable care.
The day also marks the launch of the global art initiative “Covers for the World”. Artist and Child Help founder Pierre Mertens is symbolically returning African masks to their cultural origins — the very masks that inspired Pablo Picasso’s famous 1907 painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. Four Tanzanian artists — Prince John Hugo, Lightness Jonas, David Valerian Mlay and Lilian Munuo — will reinterpret the iconic work, telling the story of modernism not from a European perspective, but from an African one.In addition, Daniil Zozulya, a student at the KASK School of Arts in Belgium, will show his photographs taken during Child Help project visits, which artistically reflect the lives of children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus.
Curated by Edith Doove, “Covers for the World” combines art and health work in a common cause: decolonisation, self-determination and respect for local expertise — both in the cultural and medical spheres.
Pierre Mertens explains his motivation as follows:
“I am both an artist and an activist. The loss of my daughter Liesje gave me my mission: to transform grief into action and art into care. What children like Liesje received in Europe — operations, closeness, dignity — is what I wish for every child.”
His artistic work — over 4,000 drawings, created daily since 2014 — is now coming to the art market. Mertens’ entire share of the proceeds will go towards the construction and operation of the SHARE Knowledge Centre.
The opening day is deliberately designed as a community event. The programme includes
The new centre is more than just a building: it is a knowledge and training centre that makes knowledge about operations, continence management and long-term care for children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus more accessible. At the same time, the SHARE Knowledge Centre will be an international platform for exchange, further training and research — managed and operated by local specialists with direct practical experience on site. For Child-Help, this is a further step towards sustainably improving care in line with common standards and making knowledge globally accessible. This will make SHARE a global centre of excellence — built with the help of those affected and led by local experts.
Invitation to the press and all interested parties
In addition to Pierre Mertens, Edith Doove (curator), the participating artists and Janet Manoni, Director of Child-Help International, will also be present at the opening. Journalists are already invited to the press conference in the week beginning 24 November and to the opening on 3 December. The project will also be covered online; professional photos are available for publication.
The opening in Moshi sends a powerful message: no child should have fewer opportunities for a self-determined life because of where they were born. The new SHARE Knowledge Centre is a place where the future becomes possible — through knowledge, cooperation and humanity.
Further information on the concept behind SHARE can be found on our subpage:
SHARE – Global Knowledge Centre for Accessible Care
